Graduation Day

I've studied! I've learned! I've practiced! Lord, have I practiced! Hiking that is, I've come a long way in the sport!

Today I graduated!

It all started with approach shoes. Then I moved on up to lite hikers!

Now I have graduated to real hiking boots!

Yup! I'm a big girl now!

In other news, I finally got my bike past the front door. I forgot how good it felt to be sailing along the path with the breeze through my helmet with not a care in the world. I made it down to Ft Calgary and back which, according to my Forerunner 305 and my bike computer, was 28 kms. I would say that is not too shabby for the first time this year! I stopped for a drink and a snack...

...at the new Rivers Storm Pond. I spent 30 minutes hanging out, then headed home. I would love to have carried on further but I need to save my legs for hiking tomorrow.

Now, if only I could get motivated to put the runners on! They are still in my closet, no where near my front door!

Short Sweet Sunday Saunter

This short order was filled in a tall way! We wanted something very close to home with low mileage and elevation and this hike was exactly what it took to heal!

We were the first car in the lot, which was not what I was hoping for because it meant we had the job of clearing the trial. We picked our destination, to reach a nice spot somewhere up there in that general vicinity where we could laze about for some time.
The creek bed was totally dried up and resembled a rock bed. This eventually led to a lush, winding forest trail lined with beautiful wildflowers like the western wood lily above. Surprisingly, this is an early summer blooming species, yet was in its glory day now, late summer.

It was along this portion of the trail that I put my air horn to use. I needed the bit of comfort that comes with that. This trail was identical to the type of trail and the same time of year that I had that unforgettable grizzly encounter a few years back. I wasn't in the mood for a repeat today!

The views of the mountains were the pitts today due to the over hanging smoke from fires far off. We could even smell it in the air! This is about as clear a shot that I could get.We ventured along the trail chatting lots and loud and even then we had somewhat of a startle. It was humans though! It turned out being two fellows on mountain bikes, blazing around the corner with no warning what-so-ever, exceeding the speed of light! Well, almost! Well, not quite! Well, it seemed like it! Well, it was no where near that but they were travelling fast!

We finally made it to our chosen destination and settled in for a lengthy time. By now, we could see others behind us hiking up the pass and heading off in different directions. I brought along some Moose Drool that I picked up in Montana to enjoy with lunch. We had lots of time on our hands to relax and just get caught up on our life happenings. If you look at the photo of me with more friends, it's obvious, at some point, others had lots of time on their hands too. This photo shows a portion of what was quite a display of inukshuks linig the gully. It looked like a whole family including Mom and Dad, all the kids, grandparents, it even looked like there were probably aunts, uncles anad cousins there too.

After lunch, we made our way back down the trail, encountering only a few sprinkles, which were welcomed because it was a hot and humid day. Thanks for the hike R, it's always fun being in mountains with you!

Guinn's Pass

Our destination is up this gully to Guinn's Pass!

Our trail followed the Galatea Creek then we veered off to the open gully which eventually led to this slope that we had to cross over!

Along the way there was much to see! If you look closely you can see the change sitting on the lower level of the Inukshuk. Wildflowers were galore, lining the entire length of the gully. I have been to Lillian Lake before and have looked down on it from the route up to the Galatea Lakes but it was nice to see it today from a brand new angle.
We made it to Guinn's Pass! We were surrounded by mountains and we could see forever in all directions! I was even able to spot Buller Pass, one of many of my favourite hikes.
Our lunch time view looking down onto Ribbon Lake! It looked glorious with the sun shining on it. We took about 30 minutes for lunch and then a few of us left our packs and carried on higher up along the Pass.

I enjoy the beauty out my front door and love when I am so close to home yet still able to experience that feeling of being "on top of the world!"

New

I finally got my new book! It's the new July 2009 version of Don't Waste Your Time in the Canadian Rockies! Thank you D Mo! I will show it to you next week.New! Green! I finally got around to posting a new blog liner photo highlighted in a green shade of summer.

Green with envy? I'm not because I have been fortunate enough to get to places some just dream of going to! Green, one of my favourite colors! It means go! Speaking of go, I better get going, I'm back to hiking out my front door in the Canadian Rockies!

Cobalt Lake, Montana

East Glacier is beautiful in its own charming way!

We drove on what we called the "Going-To-The-Sun-Roadlet" to get to the east side of Glacier National Park for the last two days of our vacation. Sinopah Mountain watches over the Two Medicine Lake and marks the start of our hike to Cobalt Lake. After three days of hiking in heat-exhausting heat, cooler temperatures and cloud cover was a welcome relief. We choose to save the boat trip on Two Medicine Lake for the last part of the hike so that we could enjoy scenery like this as we headed off along the trail mid morning.

Our hopes were that we would be in for an easier day, little did we know there would be lots to contend with. First of all knowing this would not be as busy a trail, we went down the checklist: bear spray-check, air horn-check, three ladies with lots to loudly chat about-check! We announced ourselves to those that make their home in the mountains and we were off. In many places, the ground was carpeted with wildflowers, so much so, it wasn't difficult getting lost in them. We wanted to get up close and personal with the waterfalls so that involved some off trail maneuvering around the rocks. Eventually we made it to Cobalt Lake in time for the lunch bell. This lake sits at the base of Two Medicine Pass and The Continental Divide.

I felt like I was in a lush rain forest along portions of the trail keeping my head high to see where I'm going. I have sea legs when I'm in or on the water, not when I'm up high crossing it. I found some balance, held on to the cables and made my way across this swinging suspension bridge See? I'm much steadier as I stand close to water.
With lakes, mountains and elevation, no doubt you will come across waterfalls. Today's were called Aster Falls and Rockwell Falls. How pretty the run-off creeks looked lined with flowers.

After 15km or so, we veered to the left and took a trail that led us to the back end of Two Medicine Lake where we could take the boat across the Lake back to the trail head. We raced for the 4:15 boat when we saw it coming close to dock but missed it by a landslide. The next would be 5:15. In this period of time waiting for our ride, the weather took a turn for the worst! I was decked out in all my layers, even my gloves with hand warmers inside. We huddled in the shelter to stay warm and dry. We shared adventure stories with strangers we huddled with.

Once the boat arrived and we were all aboard, it was a quick ride back to the trail head. We paid a visit to the gift shop, bought hot drinks and warmed up before heading to the townsite of East Glacier to check into our rooms.

The hiking was done! For this time around! I will be back!

Highline Trail, Montana

How fitting that the highlight of my trip should happen along The Highline Trail!

This is it! I'm at the top of a mountain getting to look down the other side to where I played by the glacier lake yesterday! Just yesterday I sat by the lake looking up to this spot in awe and in wonder! Here I am!The Highline Trail started at the Logan Pass Visitor Center. This was a one way trip of 22 km on another hot and sunny day, how lucky for us. Any chance I got to play and cool off, I went for it! This is where my Pelican Snowflite would come in handy.

All along the Highline Trail was The Garden Wall. For much of the distance, I felt perched on the mountain side looking down onto the Going To The Sun Road, looking beside me at the wildflowers and above me at the ridges and peaks of many mountains.

The Garden!

We got to see flowers unique to the area and also similar ones to those here in Alberta. They seemed to sprout out of rocks here and there but for the most part they blanketed fields and slopes.

The Wall!

Look closely and you can see the many walls we hiked along. No. 1 shows my friends going around the corner. No. 2 shows me holding onto the green garden hose which is securely fastened to the mountain side. If you click on No. 3, you will see Adventure Designer and B's Bloke together on a rock of the wall. No. 4 shows the Going To The Sun Road below us while No. 5 gives a close up view of the weeping wall. No. 6 shows the trail we just came from. Yes, there is a trail on the side of the wall, look closely.Getting near the end after eight hours of hiking, feeling tired, thirsty, hungry and a little sore, we realized we would have to pick up the pace for the last couple of kms if we wanted to catch the last bus back to our vehicle at the Logan Pass Visitor Center. It was that or hiking back eight hours! With not a second to spare, we finally saw the parking lot through the trees. As we came out of the bush we could see the bus pulling away, luckily it was coming in our direction to leave the lot. Running towards it, waving our arms, he stopped, we boarded! Whew! We made it!

We made it through an amazing day!

Grinnell Glacier, Montana

For what sounds like will be a hot and sunny day, what better place to head then to a cool and refreshing glacier complex! Today's destination was the Grinnell Glacier with an amazing view of the turquoise Grinnell Lake along the way. Imagine starting a hike like this right out your front door! We drove about 45 minutes to Swiftcurrent where Adventure Designer and B's Bloke had set up camp in a cabin. Our trail was 5 minutes from their front door and it lead us to this! Well, after about 10 kms it did.

We arrived at a milky white blueish fairly newish glacial lake. If you click below you can see the ice still in the water. The glacier is slowly melting and the lake is slowing growing. Thankfully today, some ice and snow remains. With sunshine, no shelter to be had and the temperature hoovering just about 30 Celsius, I needed to cool down, not just my feet, but me and my drink.

The collage below shows scenes from along the way starting with the Many Glaciers Ranger Station. Before hitting the trail, we chatted with the Ranger and I stamped my notebook with the day's date and our location. Others choose for a shorter hike cutting off time and distance by taking a boat to another trail head at Josephine Lake down the trail. We took time to explore along the way only to find a big horn mountain sheep exploring too. The wild flowers stood out against the red rock where they looked like they were growing from.

Little did I know at the time that where I was glancing at would be a very important spot! What a beautiful scene to see this glacier lake up close at eye level.

This was a very long day with just over eight hours of hiking in heat. We appreciated the water falls along the way that we got to walk under and sit beside. This was even an opportunity to refill our bottles with the cold mountain water.

How fortunate to be able to experience something so amazing that it makes you feel like you are "on top of the world!"

Hidden Lake, Montana

We arrived safely at the Logan Pass Visitor Center in Glacier National Park, Montana!

We made it through US Customs with no issues other than a longer line up then expected. As we got closer to the Park, it was easy to tell this was a tourist destination and it was a weekend. We parked a piece down the winding road, geared up and Clements Mountain was our view as we walked up to the Visitor Center for our meet up spot. Hidden Lake was today's destination! We hiked along boardwalks, groomed paths then trails surrounded by wild flowers, mountains and mountain sheep with no lake in sight. I was in awe of the beauty of my surroundings and still not quite believing I was where I was!

The plan was to see and visit a lake but where was it! We carried on, being entertained by the mountain sheep and now also the mountain goats. I was doing twirls looking and enjoying everything and then all of a sudden, during one twirl out of the corner of my eye, I saw it hidden down below in the trees, there it was Hidden Lake! Tiny, blue to start. As we got closer, it grew and grew. We made our way down to it and stopped for a visit, for lunch and to cool our feet.

Only four hours south from home, it was far enough that the mountains would look different and it would feel different.

We were in a different country! We are welcome here! They fly our flag! Being summer, we got to see the new born from the spring. Being summer, it was hot and not only humans tried to cool off. Being summer, wild flowers were galore!

What a great introduction to what hiking would be like here in Glacier National Park.

Heading to the Hills

of Big Sky country in Glacier National Park, Montana! The clock has ticked its last tock and it's finally vacation time! In two hours we will be on the road! Some non hiking friends are saying this sounds like a "Thelma & Louise" adventure! Instead of two, we are five! Five folks who have been looking forward to these five days of hiking for five months. This is the first time I will be travelling to hike and the anticipation and excitement is what got me through the last couple of weeks at work.

Tales & Trails!

Stay Tuned!

Going For Green

That's where we want to go, to the top of Green Mountain! It's right there! Not far away! Not very high! Right in front of our eyes! That's why we picked this hike for today. Green Mountain was to be an easy, short Sunday recovery day, more-so for my friend who yesterday hiked 30 kms in just under 10 hours with an elevation gain of 1500 meters. This Mountain hid behind a sparse forest with gentle slopes that were covered in wildflowers. You probably know where I am headed with what I have shared with you so far!

We followed the trail and even came across the sign that said "Green Mountain" so we knew we were headed in the right direction. All the while, we got to see an array of magnificently colored flowers which was unexpected for me.

We saw Sheep River Falls, at times they roared and another time they were thunderous. We even had to cross a creek where the water was over our ankles. I was thankful for this creek on the way back, I needed to wash my boot which was totally covered in mud to the rim.

This is the route we took!

This shows where we should have gone!

We never did find our way to the top! We were armed with two fully functioning GPSs and a Gem-Trek Map. This was my friend's second attempt to summit and came away a little disappointed. I wasn't! This was my first time in this area, it was a different landscape which I appreciated. We got to practice our route finding skills. We did vow to do a little more research and down the road, make another attempt to attack.

From the elevation chart, you can see we did a lot of up and down on our quest! The next time we hope the chart will have a totally different profile!